The Hidden "Meaning" Behind the "Three Little Birds" TikTok Trend Is so Forced
Published May 26 2021, 6:28 p.m. ET
You'll probably have just as much success making a crap-ton on cryptocurrency than trying to understand how and why certain social media trends go viral. This could be the old curmudgeon in me talking, but I just cannot, for the life of me, see the appeal in a bunch of teens mirthlessly dancing/lip-syncing while wearing tie-dye sweatsuits in front of a smartphone camera.
TikTok's no stranger to its fair share of strange trends, which sometimes hold "deeper" meanings, but is there one behind the viral "Three Little Birds" song?
What's the meaning behind the "Three Little Birds" song on TikTok? It's pretty dumb.
If you use the popular social media platform then you've probably noticed a conflagration of high-pitched reaction videos of people listening to the same Alvin-and-the-Chipmunks-esque track that caused them some type of trauma. No, there hasn't been a renaissance of that strange early 2000s era of hip-op where comically high-pitched voices were peppered into songs.
Of course people are getting nostalgic over the song (which comes from 2009's Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquell, when The Chipettes cover the song "Put Your Records On" by Corinne Bailey Rae), but to uncover the meaning behind the trend, you'll need to speed the song up to 2x. What happens in the track is that all of the vocals seem to converge to one voice instead of three distinct ones.
But there's a "dark" theory as to why it converges into just one voice, which Redditor moominsoul explains perfectly:
"According to this video, if you put the song to 2x, it sounds like there is only one voice instead of three. There are other people saying that you can still hear the distinct vocals but yeah, others saying you can't. The childhood part — from what I can gather from the comments — is referring to Alvin and the Chipmunks. Saying that two of the three chipmunks died. Just being a little dramatic for views basically."
So that's the meaning behind the "Three Little Birds" TikTok. Kids are shook thinking about imaginary chipmunks dying.
Is it anticlimactic and a bit disappointing? It sure is, but unfortunately that's the case with a lot of these "deeper" meaning TikTok videos.
Despite the fact that the trend is kind of cringey, that hasn't stopped a bunch of folks from engaging in it. There are tons of TikTok clips in which people either re-create the "dark realization" as part of the video, or they just play the song because it's burrowed into people's heads like a mental candiru.
If you aren't familiar with the track in its entirety, then you can check it out below. Is it "ruining your childhood" like so many different TikTok-ers are saying? If you wanted to ruin my childhood then you'd just play the Dinosaucers theme. It's not that I dislike the song, it's just that I can't believe they don't make TV show intros that good anymore.
Just listen to this terrible "Three Little Birds" track below.
OK, great, now I want you to listen to the King Arthur and the Knights of Justice intro. Sorry, there just really is no comparison.
